206 o o o o arco o o o o o o f f f f f 212 NEW ZEALAND SCHOOL OF MUSIC | TE KŌKĪ GUIDE TO MUSIC NOTATION 2019 o o o o o o o o o o o o f f ff f ff f 218 o pizz. ff ff 224 29 Extract from Jack Body’s Three Transcriptions for string quartet. © 2015 Wai-te-ata Music Press, reproduced by permission. NZSM GUIDE TO MUSIC NOTATION 2018 Updated 21 February 2018, Michael Norris INTRODUCTION: WHY THIS GUIDE? Imagine that you’re at the first rehearsal of a new orchestral work you’ve just spent the last five months writing. Your new creation is about to come to life for the first time. But just before the conductor gives the downbeat, a hand goes up in the flutes: “Um, there are too many notes in bar 7!”. Then another hand in the violins: “When am I supposed to move to arco playing?”. Soon, half a dozen hands have gone up, all querying ambiguities and errors in their parts. Pretty soon, instead of rehearsing your piece, 20 minutes has been spent correcting the errors and fixing the ambiguities. In fact, the conductor stops the rehearsal and tells you to go and fix your score. I cannot stress enough how much you want to avoid this scenario. In a recent survey of a NZ community orchestra, 90% of players said that having a well-notated part is an important factor in their willingness to play a new work, compared with only 10% who said knowing the composer was important, 50% who said being asked to make ‘sounds they liked’ was important, and 70% who said having the work written with the available rehearsal time in mind was important. To make matters worse, music notation software such as Sibelius or Finale will rarely correct notation errors, and will play back poorly notated music without complaint, giving you a completely false sense of security. The advice contained in this guide is a distillation of the fundamentals of professional notational practice. It will, if followed, make your first rehearsal a joy rather than a nightmare. It sets out notational advice gleaned from more than 20 years’ experience in composing, performing, sitting through rehearsals, and grading hundreds of compositions. I wrote this guide for anyone who wants to reach a professional level of composing for performers. Whether for concert hall or film scoring stage, you need to know how to notate music in the most efficient and practical way possible. If you’re serious about composing, start collecting model scores. I recommend any scores by Faber Music, or any of the new Wai-te-ata Music Press editions. For more information on typesetting, you should read Elaine Gould’s Behind Bars, a ‘bible’ for those who want to go beyond the basic information here. — MN PRESENTATION BASICS HANDWRITING vs TYPESETTING — Scores must be either neatly handwritten and photocopied or computer typeset. — Do not mix handwriting and computer typesetting on the same score. — Handwritten scores will only be accepted as a photocopy. Do NOT submit originals: NO PENCIL OR BIRO on your submitted assignment — these will NOT be marked. — For handwritten scores, it’s best to use a thin, black, felt-nibbed pen. — For computer-set scores, use dedicated professional typesetting software such as Sibelius, Dorico or Finale; programs such as Cubase, Logic, Noteflight, ScoreCloud, Crescendo etc, often look amateurish and/or cannot achieve more advanced notational standards. — For printing, use a good-quality laser printer, not an inkjet. Good-quality, double-siding laser printers can be had for under $100 these days — check pricespy.co.nz REQUIRED ELEMENTS — Title in large type, top centre (a real title, not just ‘CMPO 101 Minor Assignment 1’) — Your name, top right (if an arrangement, write ‘Claude Debussy arr. Joe Bloggs’) — For coursework, you must state the course title and assignment name (e.g. CMPO 101 Minor Assignment 1 — this can be at the bottom of the page, or on a separate title page) — Date of composition/orchestration, which can be part of a © notice if appropriate — Tempo/Time indication: All works must indicate some kind of ‘time scale’, normally by using a metronome mark ( =80) with optional descriptor (Moderato). Never use: ‘84 BPM’, c or C q — Ensure the metronome mark matches the time signature: i.e. in 2/4, 3/4, 4/4, etc, the metronome mark will be , but in compound time (e.g. 6/8) the mark will be q= q = — If using proportional/time-space notation, the duration of sections must be clearly. marked. Use notehead extenders or beam extensions to differentiate sustained from short notes. NZSM Guide to Music Notation 2018 1 Title and instrumentation Composer’s name Tempo marking and MM Three Canzonettas for Violin and Viola DOUGLAS LILBURN Semplice (q = c.66) con sord. p I pizz. p dolce sim. 6 11 16 mf ( 2nd time) (2nd time) mf pp 22 1. 2. p © Copyright 2015 Alexander Turnbull Library Extract from Douglas Lilburn Three Canzonettas © Wai-te-ata Music Press. Reproduced with permission. Copyright notice & date NZSM Guide to Music Notation 2018 2 SUBMISSION FORMAT FOR SCORES MAJOR ASSIGNMENTS — Double-sided, A4 portrait, spiral-bound. — Include a title page with title, instrumentation, your name and course code on it. — Works for large orchestras may require larger paper (e.g. A3) to be legible. — Ensure you choose a large enough binding coil, so that page turns will be easy and quiet. (There’s nothing worse than a squeaky score!) MINOR ASSIGNMENTS — Double-sided, A4 portrait, stapled in the top left- hand corner. — A title page is not required. — For some courses, a different submission format may be required. PREFACE PAGES You may also need to include a preface page(s) before the music, if any of the following apply: — Your piece is a major assignment: please include a short programme note. — Your piece is for orchestra or non-standard ensemble: provide a full list of instruments (including a full list of any percussion used, and a list of all instrument doublings). — You have written for any transposing instruments: indicate whether the score is transposed or at concert pitch on the preface page(s) (NB: it really should be transposed). — You have non-standard/unusual techniques, unusual notation, instrumental ‘preparations’, or special lighting/sound/staging requirements: include a page of performance notes. — If practical, however, it’s better to put short performance notes on the score and parts rather than in a preface, as performers tend not to read prefaces. E.g. you could write ‘sempre senza vib.’ on the score/parts, rather than ‘This piece should be played without vibrato’ in the preface. Having said that, avoid long paragraphs of text on the score as well. — If you are using unusual noteheads to indicate an extended technique, it’s always good to write the instruction above the noteheads as well (e.g. ‘breath only’, ’key clicks’, etc.). — Most extended techniques have a relatively standardised notation. Don’t invent new notation just for the sake of it. Look at the scores of composers such as Lachenmann, Ferneyhough, Pesson, Adámek, Sciarrino, Crumb, Saariaho for examples of fairly standard notational practice. — The litmus test of clear and unambiguous notation is: can the performer reproduce the desired effect from the score without you needing to be there to explain it? NZSM Guide to Music Notation 2018 3 SUBMISSION FORMAT FOR PARTS Unless specifically instructed, you do not need to submit parts. If you are required to submit parts, however, please submit as paper-clipped, single-sided A4 sheets. TRANSPOSING INSTRUMENTS If you have written for any transposing instrument (e.g. piccolo, alto/bass flute, cor anglais, clarinet, bass clarinet, saxophone, horn, trumpet, double bass), the following applies: — Scores should be written transposed (i.e. with transposing instruments appearing the same in the score as in their parts). In Sibelius, choose Notes → Transposing Score (shift-cmd-T). — If your piece is not in a clear major/minor key, use the Atonal Key Signature setting in Sibelius, which uses accidentals instead of key signatures to do the transposition. — Horns should always be transposed using accidentals rather than key signatures. STAFF NAMES For solo pieces, no staff names should appear. Instead, the instrument should be marked as part of the title text (e.g. Monologue for solo clarinet). See the Appendix for an example. For orchestral parts